Three people died in an avalanche in the Austrian ski resort of Sankt Anton on Friday. A Swedish teenager witnessed the event from close by, just hours after skiing in the affected area himself. Multiple avalanches have been reported in Tyrol due to recent snowfall.
An avalanche struck an off-piste area in Sankt Anton, Tyrol, Austria, around 3 p.m. on Friday. Three skiers died and several were seriously injured, according to Austrian media. Soon afterward, at around 4:30 p.m., another avalanche occurred nearby.
Felix Nilsson, 18, from Helsingborg, was with a school group from a local high school at a bus stop near Terminal West when he saw the first avalanche. The group had traveled to the Alps for skiing during their sports break. “We were down at Terminal West in Sankt Anton and then we see the avalanche falling out. Right away you see people coming up and starting to dig for people,” Felix told Expressen. He and his friends had skied in the affected area just a few hours earlier. “We skied there just a few hours before. So that was mostly what felt uncomfortable, that an avalanche comes ten meters from the slope where we had just been,” he added.
Another Swede, a 19-year-old man who had been in Sankt Anton for a week with friends, witnessed the second avalanche from indoors. “At 4:30 I was indoors when everyone said I should look out. I saw the last seconds, it was a big avalanche,” he told Aftonbladet. He saw rescue personnel digging and two people being airlifted by helicopter.
No Swedes are reported affected, but some Swedish skiers assisted in the rescue efforts. The avalanche warning in Sankt Anton is at level two out of five, while the risk is higher in the mountains with level four. Several avalanches have occurred in Tyrol in recent days, including one in Nauders where a German skier died and his teenage son was seriously injured.
